It used to be that the young folk had all the fun – taking too many drugs, wilfully damaging their hearing with overloud music, being joyously unaware of the significance of words such as "utility bills" and "inflation" – but who really thinks that now?

This does not make Chelsea fans bad people, despite suspicions that there are even more overpaid and overloud geezer types on their terraces than there are on the pitch: it just means that family ties are stronger than the urge to be judgmental.